The Greek's Christmas Baby

Eden and Aristide Kouros survive a head-on collision, but Aristide awakes from a 3 day coma with no memory of Eden or her pregnancy. She has been unhappy in their marriage due largely to his neglect as well as the manipulations of his personal assistant Kassandra, who is determined to break the marriage up.

Aristide is your typically obtuse alpha hero. He thinks Eden's absence from his side whilst he was in a coma is a sign of her lack of love, even when she tells him that she herself has been bedridden in the hospital (in a different room). He feels that she should at the very least have arranged to be moved into a bed in the same room as his. Personally I found this whole thing quite strange. First of all, why didn't it occur to her, or at least his family, to move her into his room? Plus, it would have been a very simple thing to verify with the hospital doctor that it was under his instructions that she was unable to be by Aristide's side. Even though Kassandra boldly lied to Aristide about Eden, why didn't his own family tell him that she was in another room and unable to be with him? Even if they didn't know exactly what was wrong with her, they must have been informed that she was unable to leave her bed. Then when his mother admits to Aristide that his marriage was not what it should have been, he immediately assumes it's because Eden is a lousy wife. Conceited much? Anyway, his family eventually sets him right on that, to his great shock. I didn't like Aristide much at all, but he redeems himself admirably towards the end by firing Kassandra and loving his wife.

I really liked Eden. She occasionally does stupid things, but realises immediately afterwards when she has handled things badly (usually due to over-stretched emotions, rather than blatant idiocy). Overall she deals with Aristide and Kassandra with dignity, never whining or begging, but just taking a solid stance. She doesn't like the way Aristide behaves and let's him know, but also doesn't try to change or manipulate him. Eventually Aristide realises the kind of loving woman she is, by observing not only her, but also her relationship with his family. Once he realises that Kassandra has been lying, and he acknowledges his own love for Eden, he acts decisively to fix their relationship.

Overall this was a fantastic book. Kassandra, as the Evil Other Woman, is somewhat over-the-top, and I can't help wondering if Aristide would still have figured her out if she hadn't over-played her hand. Plus, what is with these heroes who have no problem keeping their ex-lovers around? Am I just not modern and sophisticated enough to think it's bad form to make your wife associate regularly with your ex-lovers?